African Politics in Comparative Perspective

326 Pages·2012·1.252 MB·English

by  Goran Hyden

AfricanPoliticsinComparativePerspective,SecondEdition
ThisrevisedandexpandedsecondeditionofAfricanPoliticsinCom-
parativePerspectivereviewsfiftyyearsofresearchonpoliticsinAfrica
andaddressessomeissuesinanewlight,keepinginmindthechanges
inAfricasincethefirsteditionwaswrittenin2004.Thebooksynthe-
sizesinsightsfromdifferentscholarlyapproachesandoffersanoriginal
interpretationoftheknowledgeaccumulatedinthefield.GoranHyden
discusseshowresearchonAfricanpoliticsrelatestothestudyofpoli-
ticsinotherregionsandmainstreamtheoriesincomparativepolitics.It
focusesonsuchkeyaspectsoftheAfricanrealityasthesupremacyof
politics,theproblematicnatureofthestate,theprevalenceofanecon-
omyofaffection,BigManrule,andtheexistenceofapolicyparadox,as
wellasfourkeypoliticalissuesaffectingdevelopmentonthecontinent:
theagrarianquestion,thegenderissue,theethnicfactor,andAfrica’s
engagementwiththerestoftheworld.Itconcludesbyreviewingwhat
scholars agree upon and what the accumulated knowledge offers as
insights for more effective political and policy reforms. By offering
anintellectualhistoryofcomparativepoliticsandthestudyofAfrica,
thisbookgoesbeyondtheusualtextbookformatandoffersstimulat-
ingchallengesforupper-levelundergraduateandgraduatestudentsin
African and comparative politics as well as in development-oriented
courses in political science and related disciplines. It is also of great
relevancetogovernanceanddevelopmentanalystsandtopractitioners
ininternationalorganizations.
GoranHydenisdistinguishedprofessoremeritusinthedepartmentof
political science at the University of Florida. His publications include
Governance and Politics in Africa (coedited with Michael Bratton,
1992), Agencies in Foreign Aid (coedited with Rwekaza Mukandala,
1997),MakingSenseofGovernance(coauthoredwithJuliusCourtand
KennethMease,2004),andMakingtheStateResponsive(coeditedwith
JohnSamuel,2011).HeisapastpresidentoftheAfricanStudiesAsso-
ciationandhasservedasaconsultantonAfricandevelopmenttomany
internationalagencies.

African Politics in Comparative
Perspective
Second Edition
GORAN HYDEN
UniversityofFlorida
cambridgeuniversitypress
Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,
Singapore,Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi,MexicoCity
CambridgeUniversityPress
32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107651418
(cid:2)C GoranHyden2006,2013
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firsteditionpublished2006
Secondeditionpublished2013
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Hyde´n,Go¨ran,1938–
Africanpoliticsincomparativeperspective/GoranHyden.–Secondedition
pagescm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-03047-3(hardback)–isbn978-1-107-65141-8(paperback)
1.Politicalscience–Africa. 2.Africa–Politicsandgovernment–1960– 3.Comparative
government. I.Title.
ja84.a33h92 2013
320.3096–dc23 2012019843
isbn978-1-107-03047-3Hardback
isbn978-1-107-65141-8Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurlsfor
externalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot
guaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Contents
Acknowledgments pagevii
1 TheStudyofPoliticsandAfrica 1
2 TheSupremacyofPolitics 26
3 TheProblematicState 52
4 TheEconomyofAffection 74
5 BigManRule 97
6 ThePolicyParadox 117
7 TheAgrarianQuestion 140
8 TheGenderIssue 162
9 TheEthnicFactor 185
10 TheExternalDimension 209
11 WhatWeKnowandHow 231
12 QuoVadisAfrica? 255
References 281
Index 309
v

Acknowledgments
This book has been long in the making. Due to many other commitments,
nottheleastbeingtofinishanumberofjointprojectswithotherscholars,the
opportunitytocompletethismanuscriptwasconstantlypushedbackward.
I am glad that during the spring of 2004 I was able to finish a first draft
and,subsequentlyduringthesecondpartoftheyear,reviseitinthelightof
commentsreceivedfromcolleaguesandreviewers.
Thisprojectisacelebrationoffiftyyearsofpoliticalscienceresearchon
Africa. It is also a humble attempt on my part to summarize it and draw
my own conclusions from the knowledge that has been accumulated over
thepastfivedecades.Manycolleaguesovertheyearshavebeenveryhelpful
inshapingmyownthinkingaboutAfrica,whetherornottheyhaveagreed
withtheconclusionsIhavedrawn.ItisappropriatethatIfirstmentionmy
three most important intellectual mentors – individuals who have inspired
mycuriosityandalsohelpedmedevelopasaprofessional.ThelateJamesS.
Coleman,perhapstheforemostAfricanistoftheearlygenerationofscholars,
gave me intellectual encouragement and leadership at a time in my young
career when I was still looking for direction. So did Colin Leys, whom I
hadthebenefitofinteractingwithatMakerereandNairobiUniversitiesin
thelate1960sandearly1970s.IalsocountRobertW.Katesamongthose
who have helped form my thinking about Africa and the world. Bob and I
werebothattheUniversityofDaresSalaam,butourintellectualencounters
cameespeciallyinthelate1980sandearly1990swhenBobwasdirectorof
the Alan Shawn Feinstein World Hunger Program at Brown University in
Providence,RhodeIsland,andIhadthefortuneofserving–onapart-time
basis–ashisassociatedirector.
Over the years I have also benefited greatly from comments and advice
frommanypoliticalsciencecolleagues.Icannotlistthemall,butIwouldlike
tomentionespeciallyProfessorEmeritusCrawfordYoungattheUniversity
of Wisconsin; Professor David Leonard, University of California, Berke-
ley; Professor Joel Barkan, University of Iowa; Professor Nelson Kasfir of
vii
viii Acknowledgments
Dartmouth College; Frank Kunz, Professor Emeritus at McGill University;
ProfessorsReneLemarchandandMichaelChege,UniversityofFlorida;Dr.
Norman Miller, an independent scholar based in Norwich, Vermont; and
MetteKjaer,anassociateprofessorattheUniversityofAarhus,Denmark.
For a more recent and immediate contribution, I also want to thank the
graduatestudentsinmyAfricanPoliticsseminarinthespringsemester2004
who all participated in discussions of the issues in the first drafts of each
chapterandinmanyinstancesreturnedtheirmarked-upcopiesofdraftsfor
my consideration. They are, in alphabetical order: Idrissa Abdourahmane,
KenlyFenio,JenniferForshee,AaronHale,KarstenJørgensen,JosephKraus,
FredlineMcCormack,ShannonMontgomery,ElisabethPorter,andLiZhen.
IalsowanttoexpressmygratitudetoBranoslavKovalcikwhoservedas
myresearchassistantduringthespringsemester2004.Notonlydidheassist
insomeofthemoretedioustasksoflookingupreferences,buthealsotook
the time to offer helpful comments on my drafts. The same applies to Ms.
ElsebethSøndergaard, whoveryablyserved asmyresearch assistantwhen
IrevisedthemanuscriptwhileIwasaguestprofessorinPoliticalScienceat
theUniversityofAarhusduringthefallsemester2004.Iammostgratefulto
thefourexternalreviewerswhoprovidedusefulandconstructivecomments
onearlierdraftsofthismanuscript.
A special thanks goes to the staff at the Center for African Studies at
the University of Florida, most notably its current director, Dr. Leonardo
Villalon,forprovidingacongenialatmosphereforthestudyofAfricaatthe
University of Florida. Together with the support from the current dean of
theCollegeofLiberalArtsandSciences,Dr.NealSullivan,Africanstudiesat
theUniversityofFloridahasreachedanationalandinternationalpinnacle.
Finally,thislistofacknowledgmentsalsoincludesmyeldestson,Michael,
who has kept me alert to and interested in the concerns of the world of
nongovernmental organizations working in Africa, and, not the least, my
wifeoffortyyears,Melania,whohasnotonlyprovidedasourceofstability
in my life, but in her own way has also offered important insights into the
subjectmatterdiscussedinthisvolume.
Aarhus,Denmark,andGainesville,Florida,December2004
GoranHyden
addition to the second edition
Thissecondeditionhasbeenrevisedinthelightofpoliticalchangesonthe
continent and shifts in analyzing them. The new content also reflects feed-
back–oralaswellaswritten–generatedinresponsetothepublicationofthe
firstedition.IamgratefulforthenewinsightsthatIhavereceived.Aswith
thefirstedition,Iamofcourseultimatelyresponsibleforthecontenthere.
GH